A Mentor's Mentality
by Thunder.Blade132
Summary: There are so many fics about how Batman becomes the Team's unofficial mentor and kinda sorta adopts them all into his own little Bat Family, but what if one of the mentors saw this happening… and didn't like it?
1. It was just a joke

**A/N: This one I'm pretty proud of. It was hard to get a feel for Barry for the first while, but I got the hang of it soon enough. Iris was also especially hard, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. Hope you guys enjoy it as well.**

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"Honey! I'm Home!" Barry Allen shouted out through the house as he shut the door behind him.

It had been a good day, a good week in fact. Not much to do with Flash duties and the League. Just some everyday crimes and a few scuffles with the Rogues, and even those were nothing big.

It was nice not having to deal with galactic universe treaties or world ending troubles. Now that he was done with his day job, he could spend a nice evening home with his wife and Wally.

Speaking of his wife, she poked her head out from the kitchen, already getting dinner ready for them.

"Barry," Iris smiled and gave a kiss to her husband. "How was the station today?" She glanced back at the super hero while starting to cut some vegetables.

"Oh, good, good. Nothing major, which is always a plus." Though it might mean a boring work day, Barry would much rather have that than high profile crimes going on. "Is Wally upstairs?" He asked, washing his hands and grabbing a knife to help his wife. He was a bit surprised his nephew hadn't already come down. They had agreed earlier that tonight would be the perfect time for a good old fashioned family dinner with the three of them, and it was always easier to make food for two speedsters if said speedsters helped out a bit.

"Oh, actually, he called and said he was going to spend the evening with Robin in Gotham." Iris replied "Apparently they had some new video game they wanted to try out."

Barry deflated a bit. It had felt like forever since the three of them really had the time to sit down and enjoy each other's company. Sure, there were small moments, but most often they got cut short by things: school, Iris's work, Barry's work, Flash's work, Justice League, the Team, even just plain old being tired or wanting to hang with friends.

He thought for a moment, "Seems like Wally is spending an awful lot of time with Robin recently..."

Iris, ever the rational one, pointed out the obvious. "Well, they only recently started a new team together. It's a new experience for them, and a chance for them to work together." Cleaning off her knife, she set it down and rummaged through the fridge for more ingredients. "You and Kid Flash have been working together for some time now. He is used to having another speedster there. I feel much better about him going out against who knows what villains if he's had some time to train with his teammates." Planting another kiss on Barry's cheek, she continues her preparations for the much smaller, but still large, meal. "Besides, with Batman looking after him, we get the night to ourselves."

While the thought made him smile at his wonderful wife, he couldn't help but think of how much time Wally seemed to be away. And in Gotham specifically. _'Batman better not be stealing away my protégé'_ he jokingly thought before deciding to forget about it and just enjoy the evening with his wife.

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It was a joke.

It was just a stupid off-hand comment. It shouldn't have meant anything!

And yet... ever since Barry had thought it, he couldn't help but notice _how much_ Batman came up when he was with Wally. It seemed to come up everywhere.

When Wally would return from missions, it was only natural for him to share the details with his uncle, but he also wouldn't hesitate to go over some things that Batman had said, whether they were suggestions, reprimands, or compliments. The kid always seemed to take them in good spirit, which was great. It was good that he wasn't getting down on his mistakes, and instead, trying to focus on what he could do to improve it. What felt wrong, though, was that _Batman_ was the one to give him the pointers or tips.

Barry thought that might be all well for some points, but as a Speedster, there were certain things that Wally might have trouble learning without the Flash's help... yet they were spending less and less time together. It had been some time ago when the two of them had been able to train and explore new abilities or skills together.

That wasn't even the worst part, though. Not only was Kid Flash spending less time with the Flash, but _Wally_ didn't come to him either.

In years past, heck, even in months past, Wally would always come to Barry with questions or ideas about science and experiments that the two of them would work together on. If he ever needed help on his homework, Uncle Barry would be the one he would turn to. Now, he knew that Wally was smart, a genius in fact, and so with some of his high school classes it was pretty easy to get good grades, but there were times when it use to happen. Except he had Robin, the Math Wonder, that he would go to, and since Wally would then already be in Gotham, he'd ask Bats for help instead of him.

Barry felt like he no longer knew what was going on in that kid's life. It felt like weeks since a proper time to bond with his nephew had happened. Was he still having trouble with bullies in his school? How was the team working out for him? Had he made some friends outside of the team? Did he feel overwhelmed with his new responsibilities? Did he miss it when it was just the two of them?

There were some moments when Barry felt that way. Missing the good old times when it was just him, Kid, and Central City.

Barry tried to not worry about those things though. Wally was happy, and he was just over reacting. It was fine. It was probably just his speeded up perception of time putting it all out of proportion. This would all settle down once the team really got situated. It was still pretty new. Of course Wally would be working and depending on Batman more. The guy was their mission advisor and deployer. Plus, when hanging out with Robin so much, Batman is bound to come into the picture.

It was fine. Things would work out, and everything would go back to being normal.

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" _You know my science project I had wanted you to look at earlier, but that murder case was taking up a lot of your time? Well, I just got it back with an A! Batman had helped me look over it, and… you know, he's Batman."_

 _..._

 _-so I taught Bruce how to make that Mushroom Pork Chop recipe that Iris made once, and when Alfred finally came back, he was pretty surprised the kitchen was still standing."_

 _..._

" _-but Batman came in with this kick, but I was able to block it because of the new technique he taught me, isn't he great?"_

 _..._

" _-with my leg kinda stuck, Batman came in and helped out before I-"_

 _..._

" _-then Batman showed me that-"_

 _..._

" _-and Batman said-"_

 _..._

" _Batman"_

 _Batman_

 _ **Batman**_

 **BATMAN!**

Forget getting better. This whole 'Batman' thing seemed to be getting _worse!_

Where did the guy get all that time to spend with Wally?! He should still have his civilian duties, his Justice League Duties, and then his Gotham Duties, top that all off with the team, and making sure they had good instructors, and missions, and supplies, and whatever they needed… Yet _somehow?!_ Batman was able to spend more time with Wally than Barry had been able to.

 _Why?_

And why did it seem like the kid was happier for it?

He tried to ignore the ugly jealous feeling that had been steadily growing recently, as well as the feelings of abandonment from his own partner.

His thoughts were interrupted by a scream coming from ahead.

Oh right… he was patrolling Central right now.

Alone…

Without Kid Flash.

The hero slowed down and took a quick turn into the alley where the crime was happening. He took care of the problem with a single punch, and was able to calm down the victim from her attack - oh hey, it was Susie Parks, one of the waiters at a local restaurant that he and Kid liked to visit.

She smiled at him in gratitude, "Thanks, Flash."

With a wave of his hand, he brushed it aside. "It was no problem. I'm just glad I got here before anything happened." He sped over to her fallen purse and snatched it up, double checking that nothing on the ground could have been something that had fallen out of it, before he returned back to Susie and held it out for her.

After double checking the contents of the purse herself, Susie looked back at the Flash and reached out for his arm, giving a gentle squeeze. "Well, it means the world to me. So, I'll tell you what. Next time you come in, you can get ¼ off your meal."

Flash was touched by the gesture. It might not seem like much, but when you constantly spend $500+ each time you eat out, getting $100 off was pretty sweet.

"That's very generous of you, but I can't-"

"Don't even think about it, mister." She cut in with a pointed finger, and gave a stern glare at him until he finally conceded with a small nod of acceptance.

All the Flash could do was give a resigned sigh. "Well, thank you then." He said.

Happy to get the hero to accept her gift, the women started walking away.

He felt so much better after that. He always did love Central and it's citizens. And he was exceedingly happy that he could be there to protect them and help whoever he could.

Susie suddenly paused though, and look back at the speedster. "Oh, and try to bring Kid along. I feel like I haven't seen him in a while."

Flash, mid-wave goodbye, froze and felt his previous feelings of despair, sadness, and jealousy rise up again. Yup… happy feeling gone. Giving another sigh, this one far more tired sounding, he decided to call it a night, even though the sun was still just setting.

Though the distraction had been nice, now his thoughts were right back on his protege and how he was going to fix this whole mess.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Even as the days passed, and there still felt like a growing hole between him and Wally - _Batman said this, Batman did that, Yes, okay! Batman is such an amazing hero. I Get It, Wally!_ \- Barry felt fine. It was all good. November was already here, and with that came Wally's Birthday. It'll be great. The blond had already gotten off work for that Friday and Monday, so he'd have the whole weekend to be with Wally. They'd bond, and it'd be great. He couldn't help the smile that came on his face as he remembered telling Wally about some of his plans for the two of them. A good old fashioned race, taking him to see some tourist sights around the world that they hadn't been to together yet, and just hanging out like they use to. Wally had leapt out from his seat and tackled Barry into a tight hug as thanks. He also mentioned other surprises that Wally would have to wait for, and it just made the kid more excited to think about.

Seeing that smile on his partner's face, and holding him close in that hug. If felt like it had been too long since they had done that, and it felt amazing. He was The Flash, mentor and teacher and uncle to Kid Flash, and nothing could stop that. That weekend would fix everything and he'd get rid of his doubts about Batman. It would just be him and Wally.

Okay, it probably wouldn't be _just_ him and Wally the _whole_ time. He wouldn't mind if the kid wanted to invite his team. Wally would love that. And Dick could sleep over for a bit, too. Really. Barry didn't mind Dick or the tight friendship that he shared with Wally. He thought it was great that the two of them had each other, and it was fine when Wally wanted to hang out with the other in Gotham... it's just... Robin meant being in Gotham, and being in Gotham meant being with Batman... being with Batman meant less time with the Flash.

His mood plummeted. He tried to shake it off, though. He wouldn't think about it. Not for next week. Nope. Because he had everything ready, and it was going to be great.

And the best part? Batman had a league mission that week. He would be gone for those days, off into space for some sort of mission or another, and Barry would be left with Wally and they would hang out and have wonderful 'Batman-free' days, and have 'Batman-free' chats, and everything would be okay.

It was perfect.

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"–Due to those circumstances, Flash will be going in my stead." Batman concluded the mission briefing at their regular League Meeting a couple of days later.

"Wait, what?" Barry couldn't help but start at that announcement. He'd honestly admit that he hadn't been paying attention that whole time Bats had been talking just now. It's not like it had applied to him. It had just been some new information about some of the issues going on in the world for their mission. _He_ wasn't going on that weekend mission in space that was happening over his nephew's birthday. Nope. He wasn't supposed to. Except... now he was?! _And Bruce WASN'T?!_

" _Why?_ " He almost whined out to the others.

Batman narrowed his eyes with annoyance and Superman gave a sigh of frustration at his lack of attention. He quickly backtracked to try and save some ground. "Uh, I mean, I know _why_... " He had no clue. "It's just that. I, uh, kind of have some plans, and... well, was kind of glad that I'd be able to sit this one out and now... I-I'm not."

"Are they for personal reasons?" Batman stated, looking as if he were staring into the Flash's soul. Amazingly enough, you could get out of different missions if your powers or skills could be done by another. Sure, Flash was the _fastest!_ man alive, but there were others who had enhanced speed as well. It all depended on the 'why', though, and Barry knew that 'personal reasons' was not a good enough excuse for The Batman.

He tried not to squirm under the Dark Knight's gaze though, feeling as though his motives to wanting to stay home were wide open for the others to see. It wasn't like it was _super important_ , but just him wanting some quality time with his nephew... which really shouldn't be placed above some galactic space mission to help a whole world with their problems.

The Fastest Man Alive gave the slowest of nods.

"Then you're going." Batman gave him this 'look' that Flash read as 'We'll discuss this later if you need to', and he could only lean back in his chair, depressed. He hardly thought he'd get out of this one.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

When their meeting finally ended, Flash stayed slumped in his seat, waiting for the rest of the room to clear out. It felt like forever, what with everyone wanting to double check things with each other, or get some opinion from Bats or something. Finally, _finally,_ it was just him and Batman.

There was a bit of silence between the two of them while Bats finished typing something on his holo-wrist, and Flash just knew Batman was purposely taking his time doing something or another on his little wristwatch/communicator/league database/missile launcher/world news/music playlist/movie library/tetris/whatever the heck else that man could fit in that thing.

When it finally disappeared, Batman looked straight at him.

"Flash." Was all he said, though it felt like a demand for answers all the same.

"It's just... Wally's birthday is coming up, and I had the whole day planned for us; the weekend, too." Flash confessed, shifting slightly in his seat.

From the lack of change in the Batman, Flash knew that that was nowhere near enough to persuade him to get Barry off the mission. He felt like he had to defend himself, though, and so started rapidly trying explain. "It's his 16th birthday, you know? Those are always special, and I was thinking I'd teach him how to drive now. I know as a speedster he doesn't _need_ it, but it's still an important thing to learn, and he's mentioned it a couple times to me that he wanted to learn it, and this would be the perfect chance to surprise him, you know?"

He was rambling.

He knew he was. Honestly, he was surprised he hadn't accidentally slipped into speed-speech. Who knows, maybe he had. Batman was one of the few who could understand him when he spoke faster, at least up to a certain point.

As he spoke, though, he couldn't believe it when he saw the slightest movement in Bats, as though he were letting out a sigh. Could it be? Was this just a trick of the light? Could this actually work? Why did they need him on this mission again? Maybe it wasn't super essential for him to be there.

Deciding to believe in his powers of persuasion, he kept explaining his reasons. "And with the new team, and him doing more missions and such, I also was thinking of showing him some new techniques with his speed that he could use to kind of help out and such. You know, fine tuning his skills and going over some new stuff with me. We've both been kind of busy so now would be the perfect time for some good old mentoring and stuff. Work on his speed and moves..." Flash trailed off because he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

 _'Oh my gosh.'_ He felt his heart pounding with anticipation and joy. That was no trick of the light. Batman totally just released a sigh.

"Fine."

'Fine'? 'Fine' what? 'Fine' he'll get to stay home and spend some wonderful quality time with his nephew? 'Fine' he'll get to prove to himself that he's totally _not_ being replaced by Batman? He almost felt like hugging the Bat. Oh! That softy!

While he was able to restrain himself from the hug, he couldn't stop the wide smile that broke though his face.

"Fine. I can have Wally spend the weekend with Dick at the Manor for his Birthday, and when you return, you can be off the Justice League roster for a week."

His joy shattered.

 _NO!_ His mind screamed out. That was the _last!_ thing he wanted to happen. He felt like time was moving too fast. Everything was too fast. There was too much space around him, yet at the same time, nothing seemed to move. Time was frozen is an infinite moment. Was that even possible? Obviously it was because he was stuck in it. It was up to him to get reality started again.

"R-Really?" He asked the man in front of him, bringing time back to its normal speed. "You would do that?" _You would take him away from me?'_

Batman nodded, and Barry felt like screaming. The Dark Knight must have felt something was off because he gave his team mate an inquiring look. Flash ignored it though, tried to brush it off with a smile, and instead stood up and stretched as though he were completely relaxed

"Well, that's great. Really, it is. The Kid's been looking forward to this, and this'll just make it great. He'll love it. He'll be so excited for it. I'm just going to be a bit bummed that I'm going to miss all the fun. I'm gonna go now, maybe tell him the news. It'll be great. So, yeah. I'll see you later." He sped out, ignoring the churning feeling in his gut, ignoring the jealousy that was rising up in him. He shouldn't be jealous. Wally was _his_ partner. It's okay. It'll be okay. He just needs some time. Just some nice quality time with his nephew... It'll just have to happen later. After Kid got home from his amazing weekend with Bruce. With Batman– The coolest hero ever.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Barry slumped onto his couch, running a hand through his blond hair and giving a dejected sigh. When he felt a dip next to him, he opened his eyes to see Iris sitting by his side.

"Hey…" He mumbled to her, running his hand through his hair and letting out a deep breath.

Iris placed a hand on her husband's lap, giving a gentle squeeze. "Thinking about Wally?" She asked, though it wasn't a question that needed answering. Barry knew that, lately, he'd been down quite a bit when Wally came to mind, especially after his nephew turned down another attempt of his to try and fix their dwindling bond.

With her there, providing a comforting presence and listening ear, Barry couldn't help but spill his thoughts out to her.

He had only just gotten back last night from the mission that had caused him to miss his nephew's birthday, and while it had distracted him slightly, he had also been happy to return home to his family.

He had picked up Wally from Gotham, one, to see his nephew and wish him a happy belated birthday, and two, to make sure Wally got home at a decent hour for school the next day. All through their run, which could have lasted only a few minutes, but instead had been dragged out to almost three hours so Barry could spend some quality time with his nephew, the redhead had talked about… guess who? Batman.

Another squeeze on his leg brought blue eyes up to meet with his wife's. "Though I understand your worries, I hardly think that yesterday should count against you." Iris had a concerned look in her eyes, but there was a touch of humor there as well. "He had, after all, just spent the weekend there. He was just telling you about his time." She pointed out.

"I know, I know." Barry shook his head. "It's not just that, though. Batman has taken a prominent role in his life now... he's become someone the kid can go to whenever he needs it... and I've somehow lost it." It was a growing worry of his that it would just keep going, that Wally would drift away from him, as a mentor in the superheroing world, as well as even just an uncle.

"Have you talked to him about this, Barry?"

Ah, Iris. Ever the logical one. Barry knew that it was probably a smart thing to do; to confront Wally about his fears and try and talk it out… but a part of him was scared at how Wally might respond.

Was Barry doing something that was driving his nephew away? Was it that The Flash wasn't as exciting anymore now that it was just Uncle Barry? Did this new team, and Batman being there show Wally that he preferred the Dark Knight's teaching methods instead of his own?

Feeling small and unsure of himself, the hero slumped down and admitted, "I just… I don't know what to do anymore."


	2. How did this happen?

**A/N: Thanks for all the favourites and reviews you guys have given me. And thanks for just reading this in general. I'm really glad you all enjoyed this.**

 **Also, as reviewer Smile-I'mTheEndOfAllThatYouSee kindly pointed out, this does somewhat follow a prompt on the YJ anon meme. I had seen the prompt, but there was no fill, and so the idea just kind of stewed in my mind for a while. It's only been recently that I've been able to write it, but I can't find the prompt again, so if any of you guys come across it, mind putting link to this for a type of fill?**

 **Any ways... here is the second part. Woohoo! Enjoy.**

 **~:~:~:~:~:~**

Wally West stood at the top of the staircase, eyes wide and face full of shock as he listened to his aunt and uncle talk downstairs below. H-He wasn't doing that! There's no way. There is no way that he was doing that to his mentor, his uncle, his _hero_!

He shook his head in denial. It wasn't true. Barry was overreacting. T-They had hung out together recently, even for just training, Wally was sure of it. Not including Barry's recent week away on a mission, they had gone out together just a few days before that an– oh... No, Wally had had to leave before they could really even start. He and the Team had gotten a mission.

Okay, well before that. It had to have been recent. Wally _knows_ that he's been on patrol.

There was, um... last Wednesday? Yeah, yeah. He and Rob had– Wait... that was in Gotham.

Wally shook his head again, pushing aside his memories of Gotham to find his most recent patrol in Central. He tried to ignore the guilty feeling in his gut when he realized just _how much_ time he had spent in Gotham recently.

 _Aha!_ Wally smiled. He had done it two Saturdays before today. He remembered it very clearly now. Both Captain Cold and Heatwave had been working together, and those two were always difficult to stop, this time even more so since it had just been him fighting them off. Flash had been... on a... league... mission.

Flash hadn't been there.

It had just been Kid Flash.

Just Wally.

Thinking back more, he could only see himself making excuses to his Uncle whenever he was asked. Homework, hanging out with Robin, Team and Mt. Justice stuff, Robin again, missions, just feeling tired. Of course, then he needed to add in the times when Barry's work got in the way, as well as Justice League stuff.

Wally felt himself slide down the wall until he was sitting on the ground. It really _had_ been forever since he went on patrol with Uncle Barry. Even longer than that when they had just gone out together for a run. Sure, he knew Barry went out on his own runs, and Wally himself would travel all over the world when he felt like it... but they weren't together. Last night had been the first in a while when it was just the two of them together, and as his uncle had said… He had mainly talked about Batman and Robin.

B-but… did he really talk about Batman _that much?_ Had all his free time suddenly gone into being with Batman? And not Barry?

Why didn't he notice it though? Why didn't he notice that he and his Uncle were spending less time together? That he hadn't had a good chance to be with his teacher? Was it really because he was turning to Batman as a mentor instead?

All these questions rolled through his mind, giving him a headache. Okay, that's enough of that. What he needed to do was chart this all out. Put it in a table, observe the data and see the proof.

Standing up as quietly as he could, Wally crept into his room and grabbed a pencil and paper. Creating a table of his own, Wally put down Barry's name at the top, and Batman's right next to it. In the column going down, he listed several activities he and Barry would do together, either training, fun stuff, just hanging out, whatever he could think of.

Finally, his table was ready. Under Barry's name, Wally wrote the date he last did whatever was in the left-hand column. Some of them, Wally just had to generalize the date because it was too long ago, but that was okay. All that mattered is that he did them with Barry, and not Batman.

Once he got to the bottom, he tried not to focus on some of the more common activities, like training, patrol, and just hanging out. The large gap between now and then seemed to leap out at him, even more so because he could tell right now that he and Batman had done all those things far more recently. Batman...

 _Batman_ hanging out.

It doesn't sound like a 'Batman' thing to do, yet even before his weekend at Wayne Manor, Wally and Dick had been playing basketball, and Bruce, in a rare day off, had been home as well. He had joined them and the three of them had just... hung out.

Wally quickly finished the table, and tried to keep in his groan of despair.

There it was. There was the proof that Uncle Barry's worries weren't just from his imagination.

He didn't want to believe it, though. He didn't want to hurt his uncle like that. Because he knew that's what he was doing. He was hurting Barry by ignoring him.

Slumping in his chair, Wally tried to figure out what he could do to fix it. Half his worry was that he had failed to notice it happening in the first place. What if he started doing it again? Even if he fixed it now, would something like this come between him and Barry again? How could he–

Wally almost jumped when his phone rang, and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket. Seeing a new message from Dick initially got his own downtrodden feelings to rise. It only took a moment longer before he realized that half the problem with him and Barry was how much time he had been spending with Dick in Gotham.

Making a decision right then, Wally swore to himself that he'd put aside some time for him and his Uncle. He didn't want their relationship to deteriorate any more than it has, and no matter how cool Batman may be, he was no Flash... he was no Uncle Barry.

He held his phone in his hand, seeing the ' _new messages'_ blink up at him. Huh... Apparently he'd been more stuck in his head than he thought. Just when he was about to reply to Dick's text, probably something about hanging out, he received another two from his friend.

Curious, Wally opened them up and paled.

 _ **4:58pm:** Batman's coming now. Ready to start the exercise. Get over here and you might not be late::_

 _ **5:04pm:** Dude... Where are you?::_

 _ **5:09pm:** You forgot. We were talking about it all weekend and you forgot::_

 _ **5:09pm:** We're waiting::_

Wally hurriedly grabbed his costume and ran down the stairs. He had completely forgot about the time. Passing by the living room, he saw Barry and Iris still there. He ignored the tightening in his chest and instead just tried to get out without them seeing hi-

"Where're you going, Kid? Done with your homework?"

Wally came to a dead stop, his hand tightly clutching the doorknob. "Uh... Y-yeah, I finished." He stammered, not daring to turn around. He'd rather not say where he was going, now that he knew how his uncle was feeling, but he knew some sort of explanation was in order. "The team has... a-a training exercise." Wally said, still not looking back.

"Oh." Was all his uncle said. Wally could almost feel the other's disappointment. This had previously been a time when neither of them had anything planned... where Wally could have spent some nice quality time with his Uncle.

Looks like that was now out of the window.

"I didn't know you had anything planned." Barry had stood and come up behind him. Not wanting it to seem like he was avoiding his uncle – Which he totally was... what kind of nephew was he? – Wally turned with a strained smile.

"Yeah, Batman set it up during the weekend. I kind of forgot until Rob texted me." He said, bringing up his phone to make his point. Wally sneaked a glance at Barry's face as he mentioned Batman, noticing the quickest frown come upon the blond's face. No one else would have noticed. Heck, he barely did, and it was only due to his enhanced perception because of his speed.

"Better not be late then, Kiddo."

Wally waited a beat, expecting something to come after that. Normally, this would be the time when Barry would invite him to ice cream or a run afterwards. The training would get his adrenaline up, but if they were in the cave – which was where the team was most of the time – then Wally wouldn't get the chance to burn or run off the energy. Barry would normally help with that.

Instead, the man kept silent, gave a pat on his nephew's back and turned to leave.

It almost broke Wally's heart, the silence that grew between the two of them as his uncle walked away.

Had he really said 'no' so many times before? Had he blown off his uncle's time again and again that now the man wasn't even going to try?

He felt like with every step his uncle took, it just made the distance between the two of the that much bigger. They were drifting apart... and it was his fault.

Swallowing his fear and self-loathing, Wally raced back towards his uncle and caught the man's arm, clutching it tight, as though letting go now would make him lose the other forever.

"Uh, hey. Afterwards... wanna get a sundae?" He invited, almost pleaded. He knew he probably looked a lot more panicked than the situation really called for, and he couldn't help but notice his hand gripped far too tightly on his uncle's jacket, vibrating ever so slightly.

Wally wouldn't let this go on any further. He would stop it, and he would fix it.

And this was the first step.

There seemed to be a moment a stillness between the two of them, a monumental feat for the speedsters, neither moving. Maybe it wasn't that long, but to Wally, it felt like it dragged on so long that he feared the other would decline. It went on for a moment longer before Barry nodded slightly. "Yeah, if you're up for it afterwards."

Seeing Barry's tentative nod of agreement, Wally felt like he could burst from happiness. Even though he could tell the other didn't want to get his hopes up too much, he was still willing to try. And that was all Wally needed.

"Great!" He gave Barry a tight hug, and knew in that moment that he needed this. He needed his uncle, no matter what his actions said, because he missed this. This firm, gentle, and almost pulsing hug that told so much more than that. He missed it, and he was going to get it back.

A vibration from his pocket told him that he got another text, causing him to jump back and pull out his phone. This time, though. It wasn't from Dick. Barry looked over his shoulder to just see two words.

 _ **5:24pm:** Wallace West::_

And that was all that was needed, because Wally knew that number, and if _Batman!_ was texting you, you knew you were in trouble. Sheesh, he could almost feel the BatGlare penetrating his skin.

Barry just gave a tired chuckle and pushed his nephew towards the door. "Go on, Kid."

Wally stumbled slightly before catching his feet, giving a smile back at his uncle. "See you later, Uncle B. I'll be back in a flash." he called back, giving a cheeky grin and running out. His steps feeling lighter than they had in awhile. The very air seemed to sing as he rushed by, and Wally knew that this evening would make him feel even better.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~::~:~:~:~:~:~

"Watch it, Baywatch!" Artemis called out as Kid flash stumbled away from the training room. Each member of the Team was in similar states, exhausted from the _finally_ completed exercise. Robin was probably the only one not wholly dead on his feet, having trained with Batman before, but for the rest of them, the level of work out they had gone through was completely different than what Black Canary had them doing.

Megan gently floated towards the kitchen, filling up enough glasses of water for each member of the team, and passing them out before settling on the couch next to Conner.

Wally stayed in the kitchen, though. His stomach finally getting filled as he raided the cupboards.

Robin sauntered up to him and jumped up to sit on the counter, gladly taking an offered batch of crackers and cheese from his friend.

There was quite for a moment, the only sounds being the crunches and slurps in between. Finally, Wally felt at least slightly appeased from his hunger. He jumped up beside his friend, taking a few crackers and munching on them, ignoring Robin's indignant, "Hey!".

"So... that was horrible." The redhead said blatantly.

Robin gave a tired chuckle. "Yeah, it didn't go quite as Batman planned either. Quite the disaster, heavy on the _dis_ with this one."

"Oh, so he wasn't trying to torture us? That's good to know."

The ebony ran a hand through his hair, letting it slide down his face as he slid his sunglasses up to rub at his eyes. "How's the leg?" He asked, glancing down towards the limb.

Wally looked at it as well, winching as his thoughts were now more aware of the pain coming from it. It was the worst of any of their injuries during this little exercise, but still... It was training. There shouldn't be too bad of injuries.

He actually wasn't sure exactly what happened, but all he knew was that Superboy had somehow been thrown into the air, don't even ask how that could have happened, and crashed into Wally, landing hard and heavily bruising his leg. The boy of steel really lived up to his name in that instant.

"Eh, it's okay." Although it was hurting now, Wally wasn't too worried about it. Instead, he saw it more as a nuisance. "Bats just said not to run on it for the rest of the night, and it should be fine as long as I get good sleep and enough food."

Robin smirked at the nickname Kid Flash gave to his mentor. The teen knew for a fact that, while Flash could get away with calling Batman that, Wally had no such guarantee of getting out alive if the Dark Knight heard him. It's why it was only ever mentioned when there was no chance the Bat was around to hear.

Wally saw the smirk and startled chuckling, knowing what his friend's thoughts were. Soon they were both laughing.

Both quickly snapped to attention though when they heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen. The insane thought that Batman was coming was at the forefront of their thoughts, though really... would they have heard him if it was? Instead, Kaldur walked in, catching sight of the two boys on the counter. Though he did give them a disapproving look, he seemed too tired to say anything about it for now.

"The rest of us have decided to remain here for a while longer and watch a movie together, giving us time to relax and enjoy each other's company." The Atlantean stated, "Would you two be willing to join us?"

Robin nodded almost immediately, having already gotten the rest of the evening off from Batman. These kinds of nights were always fun for the team, and now he didn't have patrol getting in the way.

Wally, on the other hand, was trying not to frown. That sounded exactly like what he needed. A perfect relaxing rest of the night with a couple of friends... except, what about Barry? Looking down towards his leg again, the teen grimaced. It didn't even matter, though. He couldn't even go running with the Flash anyways.

He slumped down, feeling more exhausted than before. All he had wanted was to fix everything... and the moment he tried, it backfired on him. His head hurt, his body was sore, and now his heart continued to throb.

Tonight wasn't going as planned.

His two teammates seemed to notice his sudden mood shift.

Kaldur stepped forwards and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "My friend, I did not think a movie would be this distressing to you." He said it with a small smile, trying to make Wally laugh, though it fell from his face when it did nothing.

Robin looked at his friend, trying to figure out what was wrong. The redhead hadn't mentioned any problems when he had spent the weekend just a couple days ago. And there is no way he would have kept something from him. They were bros. They shared anything and everything with each other.

Wally swallowed deeply, trying to get his emotions under control. "Sorry guys... I guess I'm just tired."

By the looks that his teammates gave him, he knew that they weren't buying that that was all that was wrong. Leaning against the counter, he sighed. "I was planning on going running with Flash tonight, but…" he trailed off, looking down at his leg.

"I'm sure Flash would understand," Kaldur started, "and there are plenty of other activities the two of you could do together."

Wally let a smile grace his lips, nodding in agreement. He pulled out his phone, deciding to call ahead and explain before he headed back home.

The phone barely started its first ring before it was being answered on the other side. Both he and his uncle could do this fun little trick, each trying to see who could answer it the fastest (Barry was winning), but they could only do it with certain people, seeing as it might rise a few questions depending on who was on the other end of the line. Because it was Wally though, Barry didn't bother waiting.

 _"Hello?"_

"Hey Uncle B."

There was a pause, a silence that almost matched the one between the two speedsters earlier. And it was in that moment that Wally realized that maybe calling wasn't the best idea, especially when he heard his uncle's voice.

 _"Oh hey Kiddo. What's up?"_ It was strained and tense and - could a human hear someone's hope and joy cracking into a billion pieces when they're overrun with disappointment? Wally hoped not, because that's the only way he could describe his uncle's voice right then.

Wally took a deep breath before he tried to explain the situation. He would want to get it out fast, and try and explain so Barry wouldn't think he was ditching him, that he really did want to hang out with his uncle. This was just an accident, and crappy timing.

"I -uh, I can't go running tonight. BatmanSaysIHaveToRestMyLegSinceItGotInjuredDuringTraining." He rushed through that last part, partially hoping Barry wouldn't pick up on it. He could be such a worry wart, but thinking about it, maybe it wouldn't be too bad to have his uncle right there caring for him while he was basically bedridden for the night.

There was of course the expected questions of 'how are you doing?' and 'are you okay?' but there was so much more hidden in his mentor's voice. Wally could almost imagine the expression his uncle was wearing. Maybe one of somber resolve. Maybe he was regretting to even agreeing to go out with Wally in the first place. He only got disappointment after all.

Wally quickly tried to continue, having to take a moment to collect himself after hearing how sad Barry had sounded.

"Yeah, it's fine. I just… can't go running, ButIDon'tWantToCancelOurPlans! JustMabyeChangeThemABit?" His pitch rose with the question, getting it out at speeds he didn't normally talk at. Wally didn't even let Barry get a word in and just kept talking, because he didn't want to hear 'no'. He didn't want to hear a tired 'maybe another time', or an understanding 'It's okay if you want to hang out with your friends.' Wally didn't want to hear any of that, and so he just kept talking.

"We could just stay home and watch a movie together, or we could try chilling in the kitchen. I know I wouldn't be able to help much, but probably just sitting at the table or counter, and you would really just be making something for us, but I always like it when we can cook together-"

He was rambling, oh _man_ was he rambling. It's a good thing Barry had super speed because he was pretty sure a lot of this was going right over his teammates heads as they listened to his half of the conversation. Really, could he call it that? It had mainly just been Wally talking, not letting Barry in at all.

He didn't know how his uncle had done it; stayed smiling and happy and still Uncle Barry when Wally always said no. The teen didn't think he could handle it, and it hadn't even _happened_ yet. Just the thought of it, of not hanging out with Uncle Barry any more, of almost replacing him with someone else…. Batman could never compare to The Flash- No, not even that; to just Uncle Barry. It made him feel a bit frantic, desperate to fix this. He had to, because this was his mess, and he needed to be the one to fix it, and he was trying. He was _trying._

During his thoughts, he apparently had stopped talking long enough for Barry to finally get his own words in.

" _That s-sounds…"_ Barry cleared his throat and started again. _"That sounds great, kid. I'm going to run to the store real quick then, and pick up some things if that's the case."_

"Sweet. Thanks Uncle B." Wally smiled, releasing the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. "Oh! Could you drop by the zeta tube on your way home and pick me up? I.. uh, yeah. Not suppose to be running right now."

 _"Stay in the cave. I'll come to you there."_

Wally's eyes widened in horror and embarrassment "No, no! It's fine. I'm fine, stay in central. Barry? Barry!"

 _"See you soon kid."_ He was smirking. The redhead could tell, even through the phone, that his uncle was smirking.

Aaaaand, there's the dial tone.

Wally rolled his eyes, and just hoped everyone would be too into the movie to really pay attention when the Flash came. He also gave an exasperated sigh, but couldn't help the smile that came to his face either. It wasn't like his usual playful and joking ones, though. It was gentle, almost a little sad, but that's okay, because he and Flash would be fine. He turned to hang up the phone and wait in the main room for his mentor, and lo and behold… He two teammates were still right there.

Oh, yeah.

"Something going on with you and Flash? You seemed kinda distressed, heavy on the 'dis'." Robin spoke up, looking at his friend with worry. The expression Wally had made made the younger boy anxious.

Wally scratched the back of his head, not really wanting to explain the situation. It wasn't Rob's fault, but sort of included him, but not really? The reason he was in Gotham so much with Batman was because Robin was there. "We just... Haven't been able to spend a lot of time together recently, so I didn't want our plans to get messed up again."

"But everything is fine between the two of you, then?" Kaldur clarified, making sure that Wally was alright.

Wally clutched his hand into a fist, eyes filled with a fierce determination, and he turned towards the zeta tubes where he mentor would soon be appearing. "It will be." His voice leaving no room for doubt.

 **::Recognized: Flash - 03::**

Suddenly, there he was, standing in Mt. Justice as a civilian with two large shopping bags still swinging from the momentum of the run. Seeing him, Wally couldn't help the grin that came onto his face. Not even caring that his teammates were watching, he sped up to his mentor and gave him a big embrace, holding tight to just take him in.

"Hey, Uncle B."

The blond's face showed surprise for a moment at Wally's display, but quickly turned into a smile as well as he returned the hug and ruffled his nephew's hair.

"Ready to go, kid?" He asked, turning slightly so as to give access to Kid Flash to get on his back

"Yup! Enjoy the movie guys." Wally said as he hopped up onto his uncle. If any of his other teammates had been there, he might have been embarrassed at getting a piggy back, but this was Robin; his best bud who just gave him a grin, and knew just how important and close his bond with his uncle was, and Kaldur was…. Well, he was Kaldur. It's not like the Atlantean would keep it for blackmail or make fun of him for it, unlike a certain green archer. That girl seemed to take advantage of any slip ups Wally makes.

Man, he'd like to see her handle superspeed one of these days, see how many times she loses her footing. He'd been surprised, okay?! And when you lose focus for even a millisecond while traveling over 100 miles per hour _inside a cave_! It shouldn't be too big a shock if he tripped over that chair!

Er, moving on.

Superboy probably wouldn't comment on it either, what, with his lack of knowledge of social norms and the acceptable age of which you could get a piggyback from family. But M'gann, man. It would be a big hit on his manliness, and would definitely go against him in his attempts to impress the martian.

Yup, best to just keep this between him, his best bud, and their resident Atlantean.

"See you guys later." The Flash called out to Robin and Aqualad as he zoomed out of the room and right through the zeta-tubes.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~::~:~:~:~:~:~

Wally sat on a chair, his leg wrapped in warm towels and raised to help it heal better. He sat in the Allen Household as his uncle emptied the bags of groceries he had bought. Though it could have been done in a flash - pun totally intended. The red speedster wasn't the only one to make those kinds of jokes - the two of them were fine doing it the normal way for now.

Barry was talking about his day, though neither were really invested in the conversation. It was just talk to get rid of the silence. Once Barry got started baking though, it would naturally flow towards a more engaging topic.

Wally tried not to shift nervously, knowing that his uncle would catch the movement, and it could possibly be interpreted as being bored, maybe regretting leaving his friends at the cave. Instead, he tried to gather his thoughts, and figure out how he wanted to address his uncle about this issue between the two of them.

Finally, Wally decided to just go for it. "Thank you for saying 'yes'... even if you might have felt like saying 'no'." He said when there was a break in Barry's story. His green eyes locked onto the tiled kitchen floor.

There was a pause in the other's movements as Barry put some chocolate chips on the counter and turned to face his nephew. "What are you talking abou-"

Wally cut him off quickly, his voice tight. "I heard you and Iris earlier… before I went to training today." There was a brief silence before he said the word that seemed to have become taboo between the two of them. "About me and Batman…"

There was a catch of breath from the man in front of him, but Wally ignored it. "But that doesn't mean I asked you to do this because of that, like… I want this too, and I'm not just trying to make you happy, and even if it was, seeing you happy makes me happy, and I love spending time with you."

He had to look up at this point because Wally would never forgive himself if this went misunderstood. There was no way that he was only doing this for Uncle Barry, to try and make the man feel better. He wasn't that nice. He was selfish and wanted this time with Barry for himself and his own needs. Because it was that; a need. It wasn't just fun times with a fun uncle. As a hero, Barry understood the sacrifices that needed they needed to make, and how it could be a heavy burden, especially for a young teenager. Even more important, as a speedster, Wally saw the world differently, and Barry was the only one who could understand him, who could relate and help him and just give him something that wasn't so slow.

"Spending time with you could never be boring or a waste of time, but obviously I don't pay enough attention because I didn't realize how much Batman was in my life now, and I guess you were sort of right when you said you were being pushed out, because even though I didn't realize it, I was replacing my time with you to spend it with Batman instead, and I…" His own voice got caught in his throat. "I didn't even _realize_ it." Wally repeated quietly.

Barry, by this time, was wholly focused on his nephew, kneeling down in front of him and placing a hand on his leg. "Wally, it's okay. I-" He tried to say, but he got no further than that as Wally started to shake his head and continue talking.

"No, it's not. After hearing that, and thinking about tonight and going for a run, I-I got so scared that you would say no to me when I asked. And then just thinking about how many ties I had done the same to you? How could you even- I just… I'm so _sorry!_ "

A finger brushed against his cheek, and he realized it was wet. He was crying.

"Wally," Barry's voice was soft as his hand gently tilted the teen's head to look him in the eyes. Both pairs were wet as blue stared into green. Neither quite knowing what to say. Instead of trying to come up with something, his uncle just pulled him as close as he could, and holding tight, as though he would never let go.

Wally's own hands raised to embrace his uncle and he leaned into it, letting more tears fall.

They stayed there for a while, with Barry just whispering comforting nonsense to his nephew, that it was okay, and there was nothing to forgive. Wally felt his worries leave him and he was able to just relax.

There was a sudden _thump!_ and a pained groan from Wally as he pulled away. He reached his hands down to his leg as it hit the floor from falling off the chair it had been previously sitting on. "Ow…" He laughed out, slowly bending the limb and rubbing his hands against it.

"Oh, shoot!" Barry immediately backed off and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry, kiddo."

Noticing the now cold towels that sat on the floor, he grabbed them up and quickly ran to the bathroom where he turned on the bathtub to soak them in hot water again. It was only a moment later when he returned with the steaming clothes and kneeled back down next to his nephew, who had long ago grow use to the older man disappearing and reappearing without warning and so just sat, patiently waiting for him to return.

"Were these helping? Did you want them back on?" He asked, even as he lifted Wally's leg back up to rest in a raised position.

The redhead nodded with a smile. "Yeah, thanks, Uncle B. I-ahh… Oooh…" Wally groaned out when Barry massaged a bit of his leg, then gave a sigh of content. It was stiff and sore, and he hadn't had a nice massage in a while, so while it was a bit painful, there was a wave of pleasure that definitely made it worth it.

Barry looked up at the sound, meeting Wally's eyes with a thoughtful gaze. "You know, we can bake together some other time. Maybe when you can actually help me out." He said, standing up straight. "It's been a while now, I think we could both use a massage."

Wally smiled, liking that idea so much better. It had been awhile since he had given a massage, so he would be a bit rusty, but it should still be fine.

He had been surprised at first when, only a few weeks into him being Kid Flash, Barry had started teaching him how to massage his legs when they got overworked. After a couple lessons, they would often give them to each other, both of them finding it easier to give it to another person rather than themselves. That way, they could just relax and enjoy it. This was a little secret between speedsters - and the Bats, he supposed. Dude, Rob was his best friend. Of course he's going to tell him, and Wally was pretty sure Barry had told Batman the same thing ages ago, though he didn't really want his thoughts going towards the Flash and Batman giving each other massages. That was a bit weird…

But, like any other activity between the two of them, this hadn't happened for a while now, and so it was probably long overdue.

"Alright." Wally agreed. "Want to get ready, and I'll meet you in your room?" Barry's bed was more comfortable to lay down in... And the other's room was probably a lot cleaner than his own.

"Sure, Kid" Despite his statement though, Barry picked up his partner.

Wally struggled for a moment in surprise. "Gah! Barry, I can walk on my leg just fine. I'm just not suppose to run!"

The blond just gave another grin. "Yeah, but this way is much faster." And with that, both zipped up the stairs. Wally found himself in his room in an instant, and he gave a scoff of indignation at being carried around like that.

When he finally made his way to his Uncle's room, he was dressed in a simple T-shirt and shorts, giving access to more of his legs without cloth getting in the way.

Barry was ready to go as well, standing beside the bed while rubbing lotion on his hands. "Alright, Kiddo. You first."

Wally had no complaints about that as he flung himself onto the bed with his legs stretched out.

When Barry first rubbed the lotion onto his leg, he shivered for a moment at the cool touch, but quickly grew use to it and just gave a sigh. "So earlier today in school,"And Wally started talking. School, the team, his recent struggles and achievements, even how he spent the weekend, not as worried about talking about Batman with Barry. He even asked if he could have Robin over a bit more, instead of him always going to Gotham, which Barry readily agreed to. The little bird was fun to have around.

His uncle got a turn to talk as well, sharing his plans for them over the week with his off time from the league, how Wally would be taken out for driving that week, his plans for a good run and sightseeing with just the two of them. Barry shared it all, and Wally listened. Both of them relaxed and happy to finally get some time together.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

 _A few weeks later_

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Bruce Wayne gave a sigh of relief when he finally was able to return home from his meetings. Acting as Bruce Wayne, head of Wayne industries, could be taxing at times, so it was always nice when he could return home and relax a bit before night fell and Batman would be released into the streets.

"Good evening, Master Bruce"

Alfred, as always, was there waiting for him with a hot dinner ready to eat. And though there were times when Justice league and Batman duties caused him to skip plenty of meals, he was always grateful for the times when he could get an actual meal in him instead of small amounts of nutrients to just keep him going.

"Good evening Alfred." He said with a small smile at his loyal friend, heading towards the dining room. "Has Dick already eaten?" A part of him hoped it was a no, so that the two of them could eat together. It had been a while since they'd been able to.

"Apologies, sir, but Master Richard has informed me that he would be spending the evening in Central City at the Allen Residence." The older man informed him with a slight bow.

"Oh." Bruce started. He supposed it wasn't too big of a surprise. Recently Dick had been hanging around Wally far more often. Or maybe it was that the two of them weren't coming to Gotham as much. "Well, I suppose you wouldn't mind joining me then?" He asked with a smile, pushing his other feelings aside, with the final thought of how much time Dick seemed to be away, specifically in Flash's hometown of Central.

It was probably nothing.

~Fin

 **A/N: Thank you all for reading this, and I hope I didn't disappoint you with the ending. I always worry that people expect these long drawn out stories, and this is actually one of my first chapter stories (if you can call 2 chapters a chapter story). The longer it is, the more intimidated I feel and am less likely to finish it. Hopefully this 2-shot will lead to slightly longer stories, but for now, we'll just stick with the short and sweet stuff.**

 **And no, that was not a set up for a sequel with Batman and Robin instead. It was just a nice tie back to what started this whole mess, but really... It really is nothing. Just a simple observation on Batman's part.**


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